How to Double the Tomato Yield in Open Ground

In order to grow a rich harvest of tomatoes in open ground, you need to follow certain rules. This garden crop is considered to be quite capricious, so sometimes, having received a meager harvest, gardeners despair and give up hope for success after the first unsuccessful attempt. However, this state of affairs can be easily corrected by following our simple advice.

Choose the right variety

You can fail at growing tomatoes in open ground already at the very first stage. To do this, it is enough to give preference to a variety that is not intended for growing in your region. Even if you grow healthy and strong seedlings and impeccably follow all the principles of agricultural technology, it is far from certain that you will be able to collect the corresponding harvest of tomatoes.

For example, some varieties and hybrids will be appropriate for growing in the north, others in the middle zone, and others in the southern regions. When choosing seed material for your plot, do not forget that not every variety or hybrid that is suitable for growing in a greenhouse will yield the same harvest in open ground, and vice versa.

For open ground in the zone of unstable agriculture, determinate varieties with limited growth are most suitable. Such that the harvest from the bushes of these tomatoes can be collected before the spread of late blight. For growing tomatoes in open ground in the southern regions, you should choose varieties and hybrids that are distinguished by increased resistance to heat, drought and diseases that develop precisely at high temperatures (alternaria, apical rot, etc.).

Use quality seeds

It is almost impossible to get a good harvest from low-quality seed material. Whether you collected seeds from your own plants, received them as a gift from friends, or purchased them from gardeners who sell seed material of amateur varieties, such seeds must be checked and processed before sowing.

At the first stage, they are sorted by density and size, then immersed in a 3-5% salt solution, stirred and left to sit for several minutes. After this, the floating seeds are drained along with the water, and the remaining ones are washed in clean water and dried.

At the second stage, tomato seeds are checked for germination. However, this is not always done, but only if you do not know the exact year of collection – usually tomatoes retain their germination for 4-5 years after the preparation of the seed material.

At the third stage, the seeds are disinfected using hydrogen peroxide, potassium permanganate, aloe juice and some other agents.

If desired, you can carry out bubbling (saturation of seeds with oxygen in water), treat the seed material with a growth stimulator, or enrich it with fertilizers.

Don’t forget about feeding

Like all plants, tomatoes need nutrition at every stage of their development. This crop receives most of its nutrients from the soil. However, the macro- and microelements contained in the soil are not always sufficient to “feed” the required number of plants.

The frequency and rates of fertilizing depend on the needs of each specific plant variety, their general condition and the initial quality of the soil.

Top dressing after planting seedlings. Three weeks after planting the seedlings in open ground, feed the plants with a solution of mineral fertilizers – 25 g of ammonium nitrate, 40 g of superphosphate and 15 g of potassium sulfate per bucket of water (0,6-0,7 l of solution per 1 plant). Alternatively, you can use a complex organomineral fertilizer, which will contain all the substances necessary for young plants, for example, Zdraven-aqua for seedlings of flower, vegetable and green crops.

Fertilizing during flowering period. To ensure that the plants form strong and healthy ovaries, during the blooming of the second flower brush, water the bushes with a mixture of bird droppings infusion (0,5 l) and 15 g of potassium sulfate (dissolved in 10 l of water), 1 l per plant.

Top dressing during the fruiting period. The last feeding is carried out during the period when tomatoes begin to set and fill out. To do this, dilute 10 g of potassium humate and 30 g of superphosphate in 30 liters of water.

Use growth stimulants

Despite all the positive properties of chemical fertilizers, sometimes even they may not be enough to grow a rich harvest of vegetables. If you want your tomatoes to grow faster, bloom better and bear fruit more abundantly, take advantage of the achievements of modern science.

In recent years, growth regulators have become increasingly popular among summer residents. Some gardeners even try to make them themselves from aloe, nettle, onion peel, egg whites, yeast… The list can be continued almost indefinitely. However, few people think about the fact that such “surrogates” are significantly inferior in quality to industrial growth regulators.

To ensure that your tomatoes can fully realize their varietal potential, use PlodoStim for growth and fruiting. This preparation contains gibberellic acid, an organic substance produced by biotechnology. An analogue of a natural growth stimulator, which not only stimulates the growth and fruiting of tomatoes, but also increases their immunity and helps them quickly adapt to changing environmental conditions.

All you need is to dilute 6 g of the substance in 3 l of water and spray the resulting solution on the plants. The first treatment is carried out 7-10 days before planting the seedlings in open ground, and the second – 2 weeks after planting.

Please note that PlodoStim for growth and fruiting can be used when growing not only tomatoes, but also other vegetables, such as cucumbers, eggplants, cabbage, lettuce, onions and carrots. Moreover, the preparation has a positive effect on the growth and development of fruit (raspberries, apples, cherries, plums, maiden grapes) and some ornamental crops (zinnias, dahlias). The main thing is to carefully read the instructions and follow all the manufacturer’s recommendations.

Practice crop rotation

When growing the same crop in one place for several years, the risk of future plantings being affected by diseases and pests increases significantly. Not to mention that if you grow the same crop in a garden bed for years, the soil will become deficient in the nutrients that these plants consume the most.

Crop rotation exists precisely to prevent pathogens and harmful insects that are “typical” for a particular crop from multiplying in the soil, and to replenish the supply of spent nutrients.

Good predecessors for tomatoes: cucumbers, zucchini, all types of cabbage, onions, squash, radishes, pumpkins and garlic.

Bad predecessors for tomatoes: eggplants, potatoes, peppers, tomatoes and other members of the nightshade family.

Conduct disease and pest prevention

It is tomatoes that most often upset gardeners with numerous diseases. And there are many insects attacking this crop in the average dacha.

Therefore, disease and pest prevention begins at the stage of preparing seeds for sowing and ends just before harvesting.

To combat diseases, in addition to copper-based preparations (Bordeaux mixture, Bronex, etc.), industrial fungicides can also be used. Biological preparations (Bacterra, Trichoderma Veride, etc.) have proven themselves well for prevention.

To prevent plants from becoming victims of aphids, spider mites, whiteflies and other pests, do not forget to spray the plantings with insecticides (Alatar, BioKill, etc.). For prevention, use proven folk remedies, for example, tobacco infusion.

To prepare tobacco infusion, pour 400 g of dry raw material into 10 liters of water, leave for 2 days, boil for 2 hours, cool and strain. Before use, bring the volume of infusion to 10 liters of water and add a little soap.

Often, tomato seedlings are attacked by whiteflies even before they are planted in open ground. Since it is undesirable to use insecticides in the house, the best option for solving the problem is to use special adhesive traps.

If we talk about agricultural methods, then the recommendations here will be the same as when growing other garden crops:

• do not allow individual bushes to become too dense,
• keep the recommended distance between plantings,
• mulch the soil,
• Follow the watering rules.

We hope that our advice will help you avoid mistakes when growing tomatoes in open ground and fully realize their varietal potential.